Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Move Along, Summer. Move Along ...

I shouldn't complain, I know.

This summer has been rather pleasant, really, for those of us who do not like summer. The 4th of July was damn near balmy. The Chicago 3-Day walkers did not have to worry that they might spontaneously combust.

But Mother Nature is a saucy wench and here we are, the last week of August, and BLAM! Heat. Humidity. The need to turn on my a/c.

I go for a walk each morning, which I am very much inclined to skip on days when it's already 80 degrees at 7:30 and the humidity is 80 percent. But I go, because despite the heat and humidity and the occasional dead cicada that creeps me out, I also encounter moms walking their kids to school – today's mom was walking her son to school but also had her younger daughter in tow and she was clutching a stuffed squirrel which was very cute – as well as chalk drawings on sidewalks, one of which today featured a girl sticking out her tongue.

Which was about how I felt as I walked.

It's not as though Septemer in the part of the world is guaranteed to be pleasant. It can start veering toward fall or it can stay stuck, stubbornly, in summer.

I am hoping for the former.

There are plenty of leaves dropping already, no doubt because of the lack of rain this summer.

But I need the weather, please.

And the urge to turn on my oven, not the need to ponder meals that doesn't require the use of any heat.

Any time anyone would like to get on my suggestion to divvy up the earth seasonally by quadrants, I'll be happy to move to Fall. Though if it wouldn't be too much trouble, you can just make sure that Fall includes where I live now.